Osian's Auction Catalogue India The Passionate Detachment | February 2001

49 PHILOSOPHICAL FRAMEWORK 7 K.RAMANUJAM (1941-73) My Dream World Series S/d in English, l.r. Pen & Ink, 1972 99.5 x 75.3 cm. (39.2 x 29.6”) Rs. 275,000 - 350,000 $ 5,850 - 7,445 “ Not to be able to do more than one thing well can sometimes be an advantage in creative work. It can invest it with an edge, intensity and dimension. A painter with this awesomely constricted mental spectrum tends to be a lonely soul, for the world has a trick of being brusque and impatient with him, driving him into his own inner self seeking refuge. Ramanujam was cruelly handicapped in many ways. It astounds one to think how he bore his cross for 33 years. Like Maugham’s Strickland, he clutched his solitary gift of painting like a drowning man a straw. His work already seems to assume a new dimension after his death, for it is pointed in message and guileless.” (K.S.Paniker, rpt. in Indian Express, 9th June 1973 ). PAPR Lot 147 So.NY/ 05.12.00 Untitled Pen & Ink on paper, 1968 55.6 x 84.5 cm. ASP: $ 4,200 / Rs. 197,400 ($1 = Rs. 47.00) ” The army of muses came in search of me and from the shadow of the tree of shells I looked on them in sadness. I rested in the palm of a hand and the creepers gave me shelter and their memories heaped on me tier on tier, yet sweet the beloved burden.” (K.Ramanujam, rpt. in Indian Express, 9th June 1973 ).